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Conflict is a vital literary device writers employ to create a compelling plot. Conflict refers to a struggle. But the struggle doesn't have to simply involve one or more characters in the narrative whose goals are impeded. Conflicts also occur between natural elements or due to societal and cultural circumstance.

Internal Conflict

Internal conflict, or character versus self, involves mental or emotional obstacles a character in a story faces. In character-driven literary works, the plot theme centers on the character's battles to overcome character flaws, personality deficiencies and negative attitudes that impede positive relationships and personal successes. An example is Shakespeare's "Romeo and Juliet," in which the characters experience multiple forms of conflict. Each main character deals with the internal conflict of disobeying their feuding families at the start of the play. As the play continues, they must also each contemplate life without the other. At the climax, when Romeo believes Juliet is dead, he drinks poison as he can't bear the thought of life without her.

Interpersonal Conflict

Interpersonal conflict involves character versus character conflict. In this case, the character has a personal, emotional or physical conflict with another character. This is an oft-used device in fiction, pitting two characters against one another to move the plot along and provide the reader with a clear hero. In "The Count of Monte Cristo," for example, the primary driver of the plot is the conflict between Edmond Dantès and his one-time friend Fernand Mondego. Fernand helps send Edmond to jail and steals his love interest. After escaping his unjust imprisonment, Edmond exacts revenge against Fernand and his family. The two engage in more literal conflict during the fight to the death at the end of the story.

Character versus Society

In some cases, the main character has an even taller task of taking on a society. This conflict could take the form of a character battling societal conventions or challenging popular opinion. Victor Hugo's 1862 classic "Les Misérables" depicts a societal conflict as the lower classes and students rebel against the conventional French power structure and political system that restricted upward mobility. This similar conflict exists in the more modern novel "The Hunger Games," in which the downtrodden struggle against a dystopian system that suppresses social freedoms and creates deep inequalities.

Character versus Nature

In some stories, characters battle against nature. In this situation, the natural element becomes a character in its own right, unyielding, unavoidable and impersonal. "The Perfect Storm," a 1997 nonfiction book by Sebastian Junger that was adapted into a film, provides a strong example. The book tells the story of a crew of fisherman who faced and succumbed to an overwhelming storm in pursuit of fishing catches and money. Ernest Hemingway's classic "Old Man and The Sea" is also a character-versus-nature battle, where a man seeks to prove he is still a contributing part of society while battling the elements to bring back a massive catch. Mark Twain's stories about Tom Sawyer and Huck Finn routinely invoke conflicts between the natural elements and the protagonists of the story to create suspense and move the plot along.

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About the Author

Neil Kokemuller has been an active business, finance and education writer and content media website developer since 2007. He has been a college marketing professor since 2004. Kokemuller has additional professional experience in marketing, retail and small business. He holds a Master of Business Administration from Iowa State University.